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„Sirius Black

Disclaimer: Harry Potter world
belongs to JKR, I’m just playing here.

A/N: This story is for the fabulous Quillers birgit, sveltskye, Genesse and prplhez8. And, of
course, to my SQ Big Sis. You make me feel special. :)

The Black Family
Anniversary,

by LauraEvans

“Sirius
Black! Why in the name of Merlin are you still not dressed? The guests
will be here at nine o’clock sharp and
it’shalf past
eight right now. This means you have precisely half an hour to
wash yourself, brush your teeth, dress, comb your hair and get downstairs.” The
woman standing in the doorway took a deep breath.

She was tall and
thin, with shiny, long black hair and cold grey eyes. She stood, hands on her
hips and lips pursed together in a thin line.

“Now, if I don’t see
you downstairs, neat and handsome, in twenty minutes, you’ll be in big trouble.
Do you understand it, boy?”

With that, the woman
turned around sharply, robes fluttering behind her, and stormed out of the
room, shutting the door with a loud clunk.

There was a muffled groan
and a head with untidy black hair appeared from under the blanket. It belonged
to a teenage boy who appeared quite handsome and – at the moment – very sleepy.

He groaned once more
and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Finally, he climbed out of his four-poster bed
and wandered to the closet. He grabbed his formal robe - made from black silk and
embroidered with silver thread on the sleeves. After several minutes spent in
the bathroom he came back to his room and cast a look at the tall mirror on the
wall. He pulled a face and grinned at his reflection. This is one good-looking lad,he thought
to himself and rearranged a few strands of hair on his forehead. With one last
look at himself, he took a few long steps and carefully opened the door to the
hallway. Looking around and seeing no sight of movement anywhere, he exited his
room and closed the door with a soft click.
He then walked down the massive stairs, past the heads of the old house-elves.

“Sapphira, how great
it is to see you again after all these years!” Aunt Margaretha exclaimed.

“I know, it has been
a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Sapphira, dear, you
just have to tell me where you got
this robe, it’s fabulous!”

These and many more platitudes
were exchanged when the Blacks arrived at Grimmauld
Place. There were aunts and uncles, sisters
and brothers, mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law and so on and so on. The
drawing room was filled with chatting relatives.

Sirius Black sat on
the sofa in the middle of it all, growing steadily more and more impatient. And
that hardly ever brought any good. He sat there and watched people exchange news
and argue about politics and raising children. He was really bored. He
shouldn’t have been here at all; he should have stayed at Hogwarts with his
friends as he had intended to. But his mother had ordered him to return home
and he had done so. Well, he hadn’t had much choice, had he? Sapphira Black had
told him – in no uncertain terms – that if he didn’t attend the Anniversary
voluntarily, she would come straight to Hogwarts and drag him home herself. And
so, grudgingly, he had packed his things and come home for the Easter holidays.
He hadn’t done it for years and with a good reason. Sirius hated his family,
despised them…

He was suddenly interrupted
in his gloomy thoughts by a beautiful young woman sitting down on the sofa next
to him and smiling at him warmly. The woman had short dark brown hair and brown
eyes flecked with gold. She was wearing a dark red robe with golden streaks
running through the fabric. A true
Gryffindor, Sirius thought, amused.

“Hi, Sirius,” she
said, smiling more broadly.

“Andromeda!” Sirius
exclaimed, returning the smile, previous dark thoughts forgotten. “I’m so glad to see someone with brains in
this room...besides me, of course.” He winked mischievously and stroked the hair
from his eyes.

The woman laughed
happily and shook her head. “You will never change, Siri,” she said, smiling.

“I know,” he said,
grinning broadly. “That’s what’s so great about me.”

They both laughed,
earning frowns from people standing around them.

Suddenly, Andromeda’s
face grew serious. “Tell me, Sirius, what are you doing here?” she asked,
lowering her voice and leaning closer to him.

“What do you mean?”
he asked, his voice a little too cheerful. “It’s my…duty, after all. To be with
my…family.”

Andromeda frowned and
her voice grew into an urgent whisper. “You’re not fooling me, Sirius. You’re
not fooling anyone. Tell me, why are you here? I know it’s the last place on
earth you’d choose to be.”

The lines of Sirius’
face hardened. He leaned closer to Andromeda and whispered “You want to know?
Fine. My mother sent me an owl, telling me that if I won’t come on my own, she
would come and take me herself.”

Andromeda’s eyes
widened.

“Even worse. She told
me that they would send me to Durmstrang immediately. And you know her, she
would do it without as much as a blink of an eye.”

“I see,” Andromeda
said, shaking her head.

A boy, a few years
younger that Sirius, gingerly sat on the edge of the sofa they were sitting on
and abruptly ended their conversation.

A corner of Sirius’
mouth twitched and he opened his mouth to say something when a cold voice
interrupted.

“Come on, Regulus.
You don’t want to be seen talking with…them.” It was Bellatrix, Andromeda’s
younger sister and Sirius’ biggest enemy since he had started school. She was
standing there, long dark hair pulled up and full lips twisted into arrogant
sneer. She sent a look of pure hatred towards Sirius and received the same from
him.

Sirius turned to his
brother who, sending him an apologetic look, rose and walked away with Bellatrix.

Sirius shrugged and
turned to Andromeda who was looking at him with unreadable expression.

“What? If he wants to
make a fool out of himself, fine! Why should I care?” he said, more fiercely
that he had intended to.

“But you do,” she
answered.

He shrugged. “Maybe.
But it doesn’t change anything.”

They sat in silence
for a while when a voice caught Sirius’ attention.

“Bella, darling, when
will you settle down and have a family like Narcissa here?” a plump woman with
long, curly blond hair asked near them. Bellatrix, whom she had addressed,
laughed heartily.

“I’ll never marry, Aunt
Gigi. I’ll be a career woman,” she answered. Though a smile played on her lips,
the dark eyes remained cold.

The people around
them laughed too, everyone except a young woman with blonde, almost colourless
hair and pale skin. She fidgeted nervously and flinched when the plump woman
turned to her.

“I’m so glad that you
and dear Lucius will marry as soon as you finish school. You are a great
couple, meant to be. And both purebloods – could it be a better match?” she
said, beaming proudly at the girl.

Narcissa smiled
nervously and said, with only a slight quiver in her high voice, “It’s my honour;
Lucius is a very kind man.”

“I know,” the woman
answered. “It’s a pity that he couldn’t be here with us now. Business, you
know.” Yes, they knew. Business for Lord
Voldemort.

At this moment,
Kreacher the House-Elf walked in grumpily, pounding a silver gong.

People started to
move to the said room and within a few minutes, everyone was sitting in their
predetermined place. Sirius had gotten a seat between his cousins, Andromeda
and Narcissa. Regulus was sitting opposite him, avoiding his eyes.

The House-Elves started
bringing in the food. They came in a straight line, everyone carrying a silver
platter with enormous amounts of food on them. With a deep bow, they served the
food and left, sent by a variety of comments that rather poorly covered the guests’
envy. (“You have them trained pretty well, Sapphira,” said Aunt Gigi.)

After the meal was
finished and drinks were brought, Andromeda stood up. “I have an announcement
to make,” she saidover the noise.
Everyone grew quiet and turned their eyes to the young woman standing.

She smiled and
continued. “I’d like to announce that I’m engaged to a young man named Theodore
Tonks. Our wedding will take place on 10th September. You are all welcome, of
course.” With that, she nodded, smiled once more and sat down. There was a
stunned silence followed by a growing murmur.

“Tonks? Tonks?
Someone from America, perhaps?
I’m sure I’d know the name if…Andromeda? Who is this man?” her mother asked,
with a look of confusion on her face.

“He’s...a Muggleborn,”
Andromeda said, her voice quiet but very clear. The silence was charged with
electricity.

“I’m...I’m sorry,
dear. What did you say?” her mother asked with a definite edge of panic in her
voice.

“I said that I’m
engaged to a Muggleborn, mother,” she answered, sitting very
straight. Her mother gave a cry and fainted.

“How dare you, young
lady!” her father bellowed. “After all we have taught you, after all we have
done for you! From now on, you are not a Black. I don’t know you. Get out of
this house now!”

“Oh yes it is! Andromeda’s the only person in
this family who has her priorities right. She doesn’t buy into this entire
‘Pureblood’ and ‘Mudblood’ thing. She knows what actually counts – the person,
their thoughts, their integrity. And she’s right. It doesn’t matter who their
parents are, it’s the person who
matters. This is the way you should choose your friends and spouses. This is
the way I’m doing it and nothing – nothing
– you say or do can change that. I want to make my own choices -” Sirius
yelled. He felt a muscle in his cheek twitch, as it always did when he had lost
control of himself.

“Don’t you speak like that to your mother,”
his father interrupted.

“I speak as I want to!” Sirius bellowed.

“Don’t you dare to speak this way to your own
flesh and blood, young man! You had better watch your words!” Sapphira Black
screamed.

From the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Bella
smirking. He knew he wasn’t making any sense. It always happened, whenever he
tried to argue with his family. He took a deep breath. Relax, Sirius, relax, he thought. Stop raving. Face them with the facts. You know your emotional babbling
only gives them more fuel.

“I’m leaving,” he said, as calmly as he
could. “I know what’s right and I know this
isn’t right. You’re killing people! And why? Because they’re not magical enough. You’re following a
murderer, don’t you understand it?”

And with that, he
turned around, pushed aside his chair and walked out of the room, stormed up
the stairs and into his room. He took the suitcase from under his bed and threw
in all of his belongings. Finally he drew his cloak around his shoulders, took
his wand into one hand and suitcase into the other and left his room, which had
been a home for him for all his life.

He went downstairs
slightly slower than before, the meaning of his actions sinking into his
consciousness. However, he understood that he had gone too far, that he
couldn’t stay there anymore. He had to go. And he knew he was doing the right
thing. Still, it felt strange. It felt like a bullet had been removed from his
body. It had caused pain and frustration while being there but it left a big
gap when gone.

When he passed the
door to the dining room, he saw that Andromeda had left already and most of his
female relatives were fussing over her mother.

Sirius was about to
leave when he felt someone’s eyes on him. He turned and saw Regulus watching
him. They looked into each other’s eyes and Sirius saw naked shock, pain and
loneliness in his brother’s grey eyes, identical to his. With effort, he turned
and stepped into the rain outside.

He had made his
decision. Regulus had to make his by himself.

//

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